1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recharging apparatus and a recharging method thereof, and more specifically, to a recharging apparatus that enables or interrupts recharging procedures for a rechargeable battery in a portable electronic device and a recharging method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The tide of electronic devices turning towards smaller and lighter devices has resulted in portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs), appearing more and more frequently in daily life. In practical terms of using portable electronic devices, a main point of evaluating convenience of said portable electronic devices is power management. In general, portable electronic devices are equipped with rechargeable batteries: when a portable electronic device does not employ an external power source, such as power supplied by a power plant, the rechargeable battery is responsible for supporting all consumed power of the portable electronic device. When the portable electronic device connects to an external power source, an internal power control circuit of the portable electronic device switches the power source from the rechargeable battery to the external power source. At such a time, the external power source not only supplies sufficient power to the portable electronic device for normal operation, but also enables recharging procedures for the rechargeable battery to replenish consumed energy of the rechargeable battery until the portable electronic device disconnects from the external power source.
As mentioned above, current portable electronic devices always enable recharging procedures for the rechargeable battery inside the device when the portable electronic device is connected to an external power source, no matter whether the rechargeable battery is filled up or not. Unfortunately, the number of times the battery can be recharged is limited, regardless of whether the battery is a Li-ion battery or a Ni—Mh battery. If the number of recharging times is over the limit (for example, a Li-ion battery is usually designed to support 800 or 1000 recharges), the efficiency of the rechargeable battery is greatly decreased. That is, the rechargeable battery is only allowed to be recharged a fixed number of times, and if the number of recharging times is over the limit, the rechargeable battery cannot be recharged anymore. Because the battery has no ability to continue supplying power required by the portable electronic device, a new battery is required. It is well known that a traditional recharging apparatus and control method thereof reduce rechargeable battery life due to bad recharging mechanisms, and unnecessary costs are introduced as a result of more frequent replacement for rechargeable batteries inside a portable electronic device.